The Demon Dragon: Beginnings
by BKGeno
Summary: 'In normal times, evil should be fought by good, but in times like this, well, it should be fought by another kind of evil.' This is the story of that 'other kind of evil.' And he did NOT sign up for this. Hostile dragons when he should be with allies, a distant, barely understood evil, and that is just the start. Its enough to make someone want to kill. ON HIATUS UNTIL REWRITTEN
1. Chapter 1 - Beginnings

Demon Dragon - Chapter 1: Beginnings

 _Disclaimer: This story is an Alternate Universe/Timeline tribute to the Legend of Spyro frachise. I do not own any characters or places that belong to said franchise. Any original characters and locations are mine._

 _Author's Note: My first story on FanFiction. Enjoy, and leave a review if you have the time. Praise shall be hoarded, critics will be cherished, suggestions shall be considered, and trolls shall be ignored!_

He stalked through the slowly darkening forest, shadows made solid and flesh. He was as silent as the wind, and his prey had no idea he was even there, death slowly closing in on them. The two deer pawed at the earth, the fall grass thin this high in the mountains. The stalking predator paused, almost within striking distance, as both deer suddenly snorted in fear, their heads coming up at something he couldn't see. He held his breath, but could only sigh in vexation as the deer bounded off. He sniffed the air in irritation, having lost the only decent prey he had come across all week. He froze as he smelt a cauldron of scents; blood, sweat, dirt, and other, less savory smells. Only one thing smelt like that, and his lips curled back in an instinctive, silent snarl.

Apes. And more in one place than he had ever encountered before. And even worse, coming almost directly toward him. He crouched deeper into the shadows, and waited, watching.

He didn't relax until the group of apes had trudged past him, not spotting the black and dark grey scaled dragon in the shadows of a nearby tree and bush. He didn't get an exact count, they were too disorganized and clumped together, but he knew there were at least twenty, far more than anyone other than a hero or a guard squad could deal with in a straight fight. At least the leader was easy to spot, one much larger than the other apes around and behind him, carrying a shield and sword and wearing proper armor that covered his chest.

He watched the apes vanish into the forest, and frowned to himself, before slinking after the group as he realized it was heading down the pass toward the town. This was no mere scouting or foraging party, they were too far south and in far to great of numbers for that. This was something far more serious than what he usually dealt with. As he got closer to the apes from behind, he started taking note of their equipment, and his unease only grew. A few lesser apes had leather armor, and all of them had metal weapons, mostly axes and swords, but a couple of spears were also present, and several bows. He suddenly froze as his senses suddenly screamed, having been getting closer to back ranks to try and get a decent count, a magic spell suddenly in his face. A heart stopping moment later, and as the apes kept marching, he knew he had been lucky. They had a mage, fairly skilled it seemed if the ape mage could march and keep up a magic spell over the group while doing so. It also explained how such a large group had managed to get this far south and west without being spotted by the town's patrols.

He stopped following, and stared at their retreating backs, and debated his best course of action. The town they were marching toward wasn't that large, mostly cheetahs and moles though the dragons there weren't exactly few in number either. And they did have a small garrison of a dozen dragon guards, along with the usual militia and town watch. But he knew exactly how far he was from the town, and the night shift would be well underway, letting the apes slip into town and do whatever they planned, likely getting out without the garrison rousing before the apes were already leaving. The garrison was to patrol the road that followed the mountain path, keeping the bandits away, not deal with ape war parties coming from the northern pass, which was on the opposite side of the town from the road.

He gave a soft sigh, and then spread his large wings. A couple running steps later, a leap and a powerful beat of his wings, and he was in the tree branches. They were out of sight, but he was faster, and in the branches, he could take less care about accidentally making noise. There was enough wind to cover the branches protesting his presence among them. He picked a sturdy one out, and landed on it, before moving with as much ease along the branches as he did on the ground, leaping from one branch to another, with his wings only rarely used to glide between larger openings. He loved following creatures like this, ground based creatures never looked up unless something landed on them, and even his own kind only rarely did, and even then they usually only did so when hunting for someone.

-A short while later-

He stopped at the edge of yet another clearing, this one a bit smaller than the others, and stared after the apes, curious. They had skirted around most of the clearings, keeping near the tree line, but this one they had marched into the center of it like they owned it. After a few minutes of watching the armored ape cuff and scream at the smaller ones, he narrowed his eyes in understanding, as they began pulling out rough tents and camping supplies from the packs they carried. He watched them set up the camp, and was about to move away when the leader and the mage separated from the group and started walking toward him. He froze, shutting his eyes and relying on hearing to track them. After a moment, they stopped moving forward, continuing to converse in their native language. He snuck a quick peek, noting that they were less than a handful of body lengths from him, and facing back towards the camp. He let himself relax, knowing his black scales and dark grey scars made him just a deeper shadow in a tree's shadow.

They finished discussing whatever it was that apes discusses, how many dragons they planned to kill, who had the bigger muscles, or perhaps which one had the more realistic poo smell. The mage stayed in place for a moment, while the armored leader headed back into camp, bellowing at the lesser apes and cuffing the ones that got within reach of him. The mage shook its head, or rather the hood of the robes the mage wore waggled from one side to the other, before heading toward the center of the clearing. The dragon watched for another minute as the armored ape got its group together and moving, leaving with eleven lesser apes, while eight stayed back with the mage. The leader led its group south and west, toward the town, proving his suspicion that this was a raiding party.

He watched for a moment longer, letting the larger party get out of the clearing, and hopefully hearing range, before turning his attention back to the clearing. The mage was in the center of the clearing, using the end of its staff to scribe runes into the dirt, and then it poured something from a pouch into the runes. The lesser apes were pushing and snarling at each other, but eventually four of them left, two going east, two going west, likely to check the nearby area and make sure they weren't in a bear's hunting range, or something equally unpleasant. He smirked at that thought, before carefully backing away from the clearing, keeping his eyes mostly closed, as a deep shadow with glowing red orbs wasn't something even an ape would miss. Still, while inconvenient, he had to admit that being able to see at night better than most things could by day was a nice benefit, though not being able to see at all during the day sucked.

He moved ahead of one of the two patrols, and climbed higher into the branches. He then began picking his ambush spot, a nice branch, strong enough to hold him, enough nearby foliage to provide visual cover, and nothing below him. That reduced the chance of the apes spotting him enough that he wasn't concerned about it. Eventually, the two apes stomped by, and he leapt out with an evil grin. He jumped off the branch and did a forward flip, bringing his tail mace down on the top of the rear ape's head. A sickening crunch, and the ape fell down, twitching, his head deformed form the impact.

The other ape whirled about at the noise, and gaped at the visage of terror that had suddenly appeared before it. It was barely able to scream before the monstrosity lunged, claws out and ripping it throat out, not even bothering to watch the ape die before it whirled and ran off.

He slunk through the forest, distant rumbling heralding the arrival of a storm. He moved quickly but carefully, keeping both eyes and ears out for the second ape patrol. Despite his best efforts, however, he still nearly blundered into them, because they both had stopped moving while one ape relieved itself. He shuddered at the sight of the squatting ape, desperately trying to not breath and remain quiet. He backed off as quietly and quickly as he could, before stopping behind a tree and trying to not gag. The apes didn't smell well at the best of times, but the stench there was foul enough to choke a fish. After a minute to regain his breath, he climbed a nearby tree, moving quickly and easily up the rough surface, the claw on his wings helping secure a grip and pull him up even faster.

Once among the branches, he moved close enough to see the apes, but not smell them, but was relieved to find the squatting ape had finished and was pulling up its trousers. Relieved that at least the disgusting noises and sight was finished, he waited, above the apes. Last thing he wanted was to attack and have one of them fling that... stuff at him. He followed behind them for about a minute, effortlessly bounding from branch to branch, the full moon providing far more light than he needed when the clouds let it shine.

He nearly decided to just do a flying charge when he finally spotted an ideal ambush point ahead. Far enough ahead to get in position before the apes got to it, far enough above to not be seen, and even better, it was far enough in the shadows to make them careless. He got to the branch in question, and faced away from the apes, gripping tightly with his hind claws, and then leaned forward. He felt that familiar, delightful weightlessness as he swung down, and then swung under the branch. He let his body finish swinging, and listening the apes approach, assuming they still didn't see him. He was far enough ahead they wouldn't notice the shadows shifting, thanks to the slowly rising winds. He allowed himself a mirthless grin as they approached the ambush spot, right behind where he was hanging. Then they were under and past him, and it was time.

He swung forward, and on the back swing he released his grip on the branch, twisting as he did a back flip so he was facing the apes, and then did a front flip, more because he could than out of need for the extra force. The ape took the tail mace on the top of the head, shattering its neck though not crushing its skull this time. The other ape apparently either didn't notice or was deaf as a post, as it didn't react to the second ape's demise at all. The shadow drake simply lunged forward, knocking the now startled ape into the ground, and ripped its neck apart with his claws.

The dark dragon took a moment to open the ape with the broken neck's throat, ensuring it really was dead, before heading back to the ape's campsite. A quick glance showed the mage in the middle of the clearing, still drawing with its stick, but the other four apes had put up five rough tents in the time it had taken him to kill the two patrols. He frowned and back more into the bushes as the four lesser apes got a covered fire going, the rumbling in the distance warning of a coming thunderstorm. He considered the issue before him, how to kill the mage without having to deal with the lesser apes first and getting blasted by magic, before he decided that simpler was better. With nothing to hide in, behind, or up, he would have to just go for it.

A minute later, he was a fair distance from the camp, and gave his wings a couple flaps, loosening the muscles up a bit more. A running jump later, and he was airborne, powerful beats of his wings taking him up. It was a bit of work to fly at night, no thermals and lots of down drafts and areas of unmoving air in the valley, but he didn't need to go far. It still took a few minutes to find the clearing again, as the clouds from the promised storm arrived over the valley proper, the first drops of rain falling. He frowned as he heard yelling before he got to the clearing, and it only deepened as he realized it was the mage. He didn't speak ape, but he could guess why the mage was yelling. The patrols hadn't returned yet. It had only been a couple handful of minutes since they had gone out, but apparently they were only supposed to do a single circle in the forest and come back.

The black dragon thought fast, though as the four lesser apes started gathering their weapons, he realized he needed to move now, or he would be hunting the apes in the forest. He hissed in irritation, and flapped a bit higher, before folding his wings, diving down on the greatest threat. The apes couldn't be allowed into the forest, one might slip off to warn the group that had gone to the town.

He plummeted at the oblivious target like a rock, and the second before he slammed into the target, he flared his wings out. His hindlegs flung forward, he slammed into the ape's back, dragon claws raking, driving the ape into the ground and snapping several bones as he skidded to a halt. He quick slash with his claws, and the mage had an open throat, the blood gushing out quickly cutting off the mage's death scream. Done with the mage, he looked up at the four horrified apes, who were gaping at him in uncomprehending terror. They stared at their leader, as if expecting him to stand back up and resume screaming at them, and at the black shape crouching on their leader's back, fiery orbs where its eyes should be, hissing in malice.

The ape on the far left was shaking in abject error so badly it actually fumbled its bow, before it turned and sprinted back to the north, screaming in terror. The shadowy dragon let it go, the ape was heading home, away from the raiding group, so it was no longer a threat. A sudden flash of light, and then the sky crashed, as the three apes brought their weapons up. A spear on the right, an axe on the left, and a bow in the center. The shadow's eyes narrowed at the sight of the bow, and charged them.

The sight of a charging dragon was enough to get the apes to act, and the spear and axe apes stepped together and in front of the bow ape. The bow ape frantically scrambled for an arrow from its hip quiver, as the spear ape set its weapon to receive the charging dragon. The axe ape, however, decided to counter charge the dragon, screaming in defiance as it rushed forward. The dragon gave the apes an evil smirk, before it suddenly vanished in a flicker of light, just as the axe ape swung its weapon. All three apes froze in confusion, before the bow ape screamed in mortal agony, its belly ripped open by the shadow dragon's claws. It stood over the ape, and ripped its claws down the ape's back, before throwing the ape aside, and lunging at the spear ape.

The spear ape died as the dragon crushed its throat with its jaws and then wrenched its head back and to the side, before it turned to the axe ape. He contemptuously spit out the piece of throat in his mouth, as the ape took a deep breath, and then charged with another howl. The dragon sneered at the charging ape, before suddenly blinking as his expression went blank, and throwing himself to the side with an expression of panic. A thin trail of pain lanced across his hindquarters as an arrow buried itself to the fletching in the axe ape's chest.

The dragon didn't bother watching the ape fall onto the arrow, whirling around and snarling in fury at the bow ape, who sat unsteadily in a puddle of its own innards and blood. It gave him a bloody smile as it notched another arrow, blood flowing freely from its mouth as it brought the bow up. The dragon lunged forward, just as the arrow was released, and felt the arrow punch through the membrane of his wing, just missing his head and then shoulder. He slammed into the dying ape, one claw knocking aside the bow, while his fangs flashed in the dying light, ripping across its throat, finishing it off.

He jumped backwards, and spat out the taste of ape, before heading back and finishing off the axe ape, just to make sure it didn't try and attack him from behind. Done with the campsite and apes in it, he turned and headed for the forest; he had some things to do before the raiding party got back. First, something to clean his mouth out, bark if necessary, and then he would start collecting the rest of the ape corpses. A sudden crack of thunder made him pause and wince, before he shook his head in irritation.

-several hours later-

It was well after midnight, near as he could figure in the moderate rain and lightning strikes, before he finally heard the raiding party returning. The clank of armor was distinctive even in a raging storm. He uncurled his wings and swung upwards, having been hanging from a branch with his wings around him, tail curled against his stomach. Done making himself less visible, he still refrained from turning toward the noise, tracking through his hearing when the thunder let him. Instead, he waited near where he thought they would pass, instead of risking being seen early and losing the chance to ambush them.

It didn't take long for the apes to appear, the armored ape passed almost underneath him, choosing to go around the other side of the tree. After a few more feet, the large ape turned and snarled at the lesser apes behind it, cuffing each one as they passed, the sound of its meaty fist impacting almost as good for locating them as using his eyes. One, two, three, four impacts in rapid succession, though one was accompanied by a terrified half whimper, half snarl that made the shadow's head twitch. A brief pause, and then a fifth impact, this one followed quickly by a hiss of defiance, and then a scream of pain in draconic as another impact was heard. He waited for a bit, and was just about to start moving when he heard an ape snarl at something distance, and was answered by a distant yowl back.

The ape turned and lumbered off to the sound of clinking armor, toward the clearing with the campsite, as another ape came huffing and puffing forward, clearly out of breath. It actually paused under the branch the shadow was on, trying to catch its breath, as the dragon rolled to the side and dropped. He had just righted himself, and was halfway down to the ape, when the reason for its exhaustion, the earlier draconic snarl, and the whimpering became apparent. It was carrying a young dragon on one shoulder, about half the size of the ape. The same shoulder he was descending towards with claws out stretched, as a matter of fact. He bit his tongue to keep from snarling in horrified surprise, and snapped his wings open, just getting enough wind under them to slam hard and loud into the ground just behind the ape in a sloppy glide.

The ape whirled at the sound, sword clearing its belt as it spotted him turning toward it. The ape's expression of utter shock explained the lack of a warning howl for the other apes, but even as the dragon lunged to attack, the ape recovered and swiped at the approaching phantom, inhaling to scream a warning. The slash was more to force the dragon back or dodge than to hurt, but instead of heeding the descending blade, he dove forward and under it, taking the hit to his back to slam his forehead against the ape's gut. It gasped as he impacted it, its lung emptying with a whoosh, but it still managed to slam the blade edge into his back. The blade hit to the side of his spine, just missing the all important wings and flight muscles, making the dragon grunt in pain. He recoiled from the blow instinctively, but didn't feel the burn of actual damage, his back plates having turned absorbed the blow, though he had felt one of the plates crack slightly. His headbutt had caused the ape to double over, trying to keep its sword on him, get its breath back, stumble back from him, and keep a grip on the young dragon on its shoulder, and it failed at doing all four.

The captive dragon writhed and rolled to the side as the ape's grip loosened, and managed to get free, landing heavily on the ground. As the captive rolled away from the ape, the dark dragon pulled back and then thrust its head forward again, this time catching the ape square in the face with his forehead. The dragon saw stars as their heads connected, but something cracked wetly in the ape's face. The ape dropped its weapon with a wheezing gasp, managing a single step backwards before it collapsed to the ground. The dragon quickly pounced the downed ape, and with a single, quick, violent shake, snapped its neck. Done with the ape, the shadowy dragon turned to the young captive, and began undoing its binding, though before he undid the mouth, he put one paw over their muzzle, while his other pantomimed for silence.

Once the young dragon was free, he pointed to the ground, and then back toward town. "Wait. Others. Then. Go."

The young dragon glared at him, unable to completely hide its horrified awe or its defiance at being ordered around, but he ignored it, turning and running after the rest of the apes. He almost smiled as he found them, frozen at the edge of the clear, staring at his additions with horror. He let his eyes run over the arranged ape bodies, most of the lesser apes in a circle like they had surrounded something, arranged near the mage's circle. The mage was 'standing' one borken end of the mage's staff in its throat, the other in the ground, holding it up, while the lesser apes had had their weapons embedded in their heads before being broken at the handle.

He stalked as close as he dared to the mesmerized apes, before crouching in a deep shadow. After a few more minutes, the ape leader hissed in rage, before turning and pointing at two apes that had small bundles on their shoulders, and snarled something to the entire group of apes. The large ape then drew its sword and shield, and started into the clearing. After a few steps, it noticed that it was still alone, and turned to snarl at the three apes without captives. The three 'lucky' apes clearly didn't enjoy having to go into the clearing, but drew their weapons and followed the larger ape regardless.

The drake watched, waiting for the four in the clearing to move further away, enough for him to get the two captive hatchlings free and out of the way, though he would have to deal with the two apes watching them. He was almost ready to start moving when one of the apes glanced back at the forest, nearly spotting the dragon as he took a step forward. He froze in the shadow he was in, half behind a tree, and waited, barely even breathing until the ape turned away. He held back a sigh of relief, and moved forward again. He had to move quickly, get to the captives before the main group got back. He knew he could deal with them all, but not at once. So he had to be clever, and keep them guessing, and always strike where they didn't expect it.

As much as his instincts screamed for a slow, cautious approach, he knew he didn't have time. He shoved his impulse to hunt them aside, along with the pain from his wounds, and the gnawing hunger from his interrupted hunt earlier. He moved far more quickly and less quietly than he normally would, the rain now falling in a steady manner, promising to hold for at least the night, maybe longer. He got behind a tree within lunging distance of the apes, took a deep breath, concentrated for a second, and then sprinted around the tree. He almost made it to the hostage when the back ape heard him, and whirled about, an expression of anger on its face. The ape's face quickly twisted to one of confusion, and then one of terror as he leapt, as it realized he was a dragon and attacking.

The dark dragon's tail mace caught the ape in the side of its head, crushing its skull and snapping its neck, the other ape's head whipping around as it drew an axe at the sound. It managed to yank the axe up into the dragon's jaw, stunning him slightly with the unexpected impact, but managed to retain enough of his awareness that he tackled the ape to the ground. He landed on top of the ape as it tried to get its axe in place, screaming as the dragon clawed at it, and brought the axe down in a final, desperate attempt to drive it off. The axe had little power behind it, the angle was bad and the pain was distracting it, so it hit and skittered off the dragon's neck, only bruising the flesh beneath it. He finished mauling the ape to pieces, and lunged at the hatchlings, knowing the other apes had heard the death scream. He got the netting off the closest hatchling, then ripped its forepaws loose of their bindings, before moving to the second one, pausing only to bat an arrow aside with his tail mace without even bothering to look at it. The first was freeing itself, and the apes were gaping at the dragon that had appeared behind them. He gave the apes a toothy smile, before ripping the netting and binding off the second hatchling, this time removing the hindpaw bindings as well. He then jerked his head backwards and turned toward the apes. "Go."

He turned back to the opponents, and took a quick stock of their weapons; armor with sword and shield, another sword, a bow, and a spear. He gave the apes a smirk, as he noted the three lesser apes shifting behind the armored ape, who was snarling at the dragon in utter fury. He just glanced at the armored ape, and then turned his attention back to the lesser apes, his smile slowly turning into an evil smile. The three lesser apes shifted even further away, as they looked at the eight bodies right behind them, and then at each other. As one, they turned toward the armored ape, and then dragon, as the armored ape snarled at them, pointing at them with his sword and then at the dragon. That action made the three exchange another look, before, as one, they threw down their weapons and ran for the woods to the north, not even bothering to scream, saving their breath for running.

The shadowed dragon hissed his amusement at the armored ape, who watched the lesser ones go with its face unmoving, beady eyes half closed before it sighed, and turned back to the dragon. It snarled at the drake, and then began slowly sidling forward, keeping the large, round steel shield up and between its chest and the dragon, with the sword tip resting on the edge of the shield. The dragon's smirk vanished as the ape showed its intelligence, rather than roaring and charging like most would, and the dragon began to circle the ape, who stopped advancing but turned to keep the dragon in front of him. Rain and thunder were coming down rapidly now, the trees on the far side of the clearing barely visible as they circled, neither foolish enough to lunge first and leave themselves open to a counter attack. The ape had too much evidence in front and behind it to take the risk, and the dragon had too many scars from other apes already. Neither, however, was willing to leave without first removing the other's head.

The dragon finished his second circle of the ape, and couldn't think of a way around the shield with all the rain coming down, the water would make flying far to hard and obvious, and his other options were limited. So he stared at the ape for a moment, before suddenly charging straight at it. The ape recoiled as if stung by the berserker charge, but quickly rallied itself and stab with its broadsword, thinking the dragon might be feinting. Instead, the dragon dove under the blade, but was still clipped by it as it glanced off his forehead, and rolled under the ape, nearly getting bashed backwards by the shield. As he finished the roll, his swiped at the ape's leg with his tail, catching it in the knee which gave with a loud, sickening pop, before the turning ape caught him with the sword in the side.

He rolled a couple of feet before he managed to get upright and out of range, and felt his legs protesting the move after the heavy blade had thrown him, but the dragon knew the only reason the ape hadn't split him was because the pain of the shattered knee had robbed the blow of most of its strength. The blow had still managed to crack to of the plates on his side, and loudly at that, so he feigned a limp as he resumed circling the ape, even though it had only winded him a bit. The ape was nearly immobilized by its knee, but it could still turn, and now the ape was enraged by the injury.

He got almost a quarter of the way around the ape when a lightning bolt suddenly arced from the nearby forest and caught the ape in its side, its armor sparking as it fell over, robbed of muscle control. Having not expected the sudden help, the shadow drake still lunged forward, his tail coming about to slam against the ape's elbow, making it release the sword, and then against its face. The first blow to its face only enraged it further, and it tried to swat him with its shield, but he jumped over the ape and landed on the other side, and began slamming the tail mace against the ape again and again. After five blows, the large ape was most definitely dead, its head pounded almost flat. The dragon turned to the forest, to see the young dragon that he had rescued first standing at the edge of the trees. The young dragon seemed to be on the verge of shouting excitedly or passing out, staring at the leader ape. The two hatchlings were standing behind the young dragon, though they couldn't see much with the youngster in front of them, spreadng their wings.

The shadow dragon stalked over, and looked down at the suddenly terrified dragonlings in front of him. His glowing eyes, heavy plates on his back, and the odd scale colorations and patterns looked like something out of a nightmare. He had eight fangs, and moved in utter silence. He stared down at the dragonlings for a moment, before he suddenly crouched down, looking them in the eye from their height. "Get. Home?"


	2. Chapter 2 - Introducing

_Disclaimer: This story is an Alternate Universe/Timeline tribute to the Legend of Spyro frachise. I do not own any characters or places that belong to said franchise. Any original characters and locations are mine._

 _Author's Note: This was supposed to be posted FAR earlier, but my beta kinda forgot about it. And it was supposed to be attached to the end of chapter one. But that chapter was getting long, so it was cut to its own. Hopefully the next doesn't take as long. But for now, enjoy._

Chapter 2 - Introducing...

The black dragon usually didn't enjoy rain, it made hunting much more difficult if not impossible, concealing scents and making prey stay in their burrows or lairs. But tonight, it was an ancestor-granted blessing, as it kept his three rescuees more interested in staying dry than trying to learn more about him. The two hatchlings were asleep on his back, but the third dragon was under one of his oustretched wings.

He knew nothing about the three rescued dragons, and didn't care to learn anything more. Safer for him that way. The town called him a freak, called him evil, and other, even less savory names, and that was only when they weren't busy attacking him to drive him off. If they were generous, they would give him a headstart for rescuing the children as a reward.

He wasn't worried about the town, but more in trying to get something to eat later, as his hunt had been interrupted by the apes. He ignored the hunger though, wouldn't be the first time he hadn't been able to get a kill. With a glance skyward, he checked the clouds. The rain had been reduced to merely a depressingly heavy mist, and the thunder had stopped on the walk back.

A shake of his head brought his thoughts back to the present, and he looked ahead. The obsidian-colored drake sighed, before nudging the silently shuffling dragon at his side with his hip. It had not been a particularly strong motion, but the young dragon still stumbled from the unexpected contact, and looked up at his rescuer with wide eyes. He jerked his muzzle forward, and the younger dragon's eyes focused ahead down the 'path'. While he lacked the useful night-vision his saviour possessed, even with the thick blanket of mist and darkness, and barely visible through the trees at this distance, the lights of the town gave the youngster a feeling renewed energy.

While the walking dragon was staring ahead at the lights, the shadow dragon woke up the two hatchlings with a gentle shake. They creeled their displeasure at being awoken, though they spotted the flickering lights a moment afterwards, and were far faster in understanding what it was that they meant. Scrambling down from their saviour's back, tiny claws scratching and scrabbling at his plates, both hatchlings excitedly sprinted down the slope toward town.

The shadow dragon stopped at the forest's edge, looking down into the town. A number of dragons, moles and cheetahs were still moving around the town despite the late hour being well after midnight, very nearly bordering on sun rise. Several buildings near the edge of town had been damaged by fire, but nothing else seemed to be damaged.

After a moment, the outcast turned and started back into the forest, before realizing the youth he had escorted to safety was still simply standing there and looking at him. The crimson-eyed drake glanced backward at the motionless figure. "Going?"

The young dragon ignored the question, his curiosity toward his rescuer overpowering his exhaustion. "You were going to leave? Why? Don't you live here too?"

The dark dragon bared his fangs, snarling in disgust before shaking his head. "No."

The coldness in his voice, instead of deterring interest, only seemed to encourage the youngling. "Why not? You were awesome, fighting the apes. I mean, you took out, like, two dozen ape warriors. You were all 'rawr, fear me!' And the apes were all 'oh snap, scary dragon, run for da hills,' and..."

The black dragon turned back to the town with a sigh, ignoring the story that was nothing like what he remembered, and watched as someone finally noticed the wailing hatchlings. He watched several dragons rush toward them, including two of whom the outcast had never seen before.

One was a male in old fashioned but clearly well made, and well used, plate armor. The armor made it difficult to see much about him, but from his stance it seemed as though he was powerfully muscled. His tail was tipped with a wicked-looking mace, and adorning his head were six horns, two massive primary spikes with two smaller horns in front of each.

The other was a female in nearly pristine armor of interlocking rings that seemed to glow softly in the dim light, as did the metal blade strapped to her tail. She had a slim and athletic build, but there was no waste in her movements. Her armor also concealed her, but she had eight horns, four large ones on the top of her face plate that curved backwards, and two smaller horns that framed each side of her face.

Despite all of these things, it wasn't their equipment and unfamiliar armor that set the pair of Outsiders apart from the rest, despite the wear and use obvious even to a feral like him. What really set aside the duo was that both moved with a confidence and purpose that only the commander of the town guards had. And since that warrior was right there and bowing to them, the black dragon decided that hanging around was likely not the best idea. Especially when, as he started to turn away, the female's eyes seemed to meet his.

He turned away quickly, only to be stopped the youngling, who had still been describing a fight that the outcast quite clearly didn't remember participating in. Despite being a prominent figure in it and using a rediculous number of one liners. "Wait, what is your name? Is it something cool like Bloodfury, or Apecrusher, or..."

The outcast glanced back to see that several dragons were rushing toward the tree line, the two outsiders with a considerable lead over the others. "Blind."

The shadow turned back towards the tree-line and lunged into the forest, barely getting into the concealing shadows before the two outsiders arrived, and the young dragon yelled back. "Cool! I'm Azur!"

He ran among the trees, as quickly as he could while being totally silent, as he faintly heard the two outsiders get to Azur. "How did all of you get back? Who was here?"

Blind was too far to hear Azur's reply, attempting to avoid being followed. The town guards he could easily lose, but if these two new ones got wind of him, he would have a difficult time shaking them. He would have to avoid the town while they were around.


	3. Chapter 3 - Destiny Knocks

_Disclaimer: This story is an Alternate Universe/Timeline tribute to the Legend of Spyro frachise. I do not own any characters or places that belong to said franchise. Any original characters and locations are mine._

 _Author's Notes: Only a couple more chapters of introductory material, then we get to the meat of the story. Hopefully. Thanks for all the readers out there._

Chapter 3 - Destiny Knocks

The white dragon skidded to a stop, panting heavily as he tried to get his breath back. He glanced about, forcing himself to take long, deep breaths, before looking around. Certain that he had lost those pursuing him, he settled and concentrated, reaching for his element. It was like collecting water using a bucket that had a hole in the side, but he eventually got enough of it to enhance his senses.

His element was strange, for one thing he lacked the breath weapon many others took for granted, and all he knew about it was that it let him sense living beings around him when he concentrated. There were… four, no five large life sources, likely the guards that had been chasing him, slowly spreading out as they tried to find him and his companion, but slowly moving back toward the town. It took another moment of focusing, having to try harder, and he could feel pain starting to form behind his eyes before he finally noticed the smaller life source that was not some sort of animal. It was moving toward where they had been going before they had noticed the guards following them.

The pale dragon shook off the extra senses, and had to wait for the usual exhaustion to pass before he took off after his friend and oath-sister at a tired jog. Once he had recovered a bit though, he was able to move faster, and got to the clearing near Blind's lair. A quick glance failed to reveal the lithe form of his oath-sister, and the dragon grinned. A few minutes later, a thin dragoness paused at the edge of the clearing. Her blue eyes scanned the clearing, not seeing the crouching dragon in a bush not far from her.

He lunged with a shouted greeting. "Sanyla!"

His oath-sister whirled toward him and blurred, before vanishing from in front of him before he had made it halfway through his lunge. He was then tackled out of the air as Sanyla hit him from the side, pinning him under her, eyes wide in fury as she quietly hissed at him. "Vidalus. You ancestors-be-damned moron. Give me a…never mind, a pervert like you would enjoy being punished. Where is the pack?"

Vidalus was busy trying to get his breath back, the yellow dragoness had caught him right behind the ribs, but he managed to point to the bush with his wing. She cuffed him again for good measure, before strolling to the bush. The white pushed himself back to his paws when she stalked back out of the bushes with the pack in her jaws. She glared at him again, and then smashed the pack against his face plate. "Blind. Go. Now."

He started to reply, a wide grin on his muzzle, only to get cuffed again, even harder. "Don't screw around, you waste of scales. What if the guards hear you?"

The white picked himself off the ground, grumbling, "Then stop hitting me."

He dashed into the hidden cave before she could reply, likely by hitting him again. She was so much fun to wind up; at least while he could still outrun her. Looking around the cave and locating the half-hidden tunnel, he gave a sigh. It was as muddy as he feared after the rains, but it was the only way in that he knew of.

Several minutes later, he emerged from the cave with Blind right behind him, one of Blind's wingtips on his mud covered flank. "He found me. And boy is he hungry. I'm surprised you didn't hear his stomach out here. You _did_ leave him some food, right?"

Vidalus decided he was done teasing Sanyla, as her eyes were getting far more narrow than was likely to be good for his health. Instead he dug out a bag of the dried rations that Uncle sold at the store. He and Sanyla worked and lived with Uncle, and Blind traded hides and the rare crystals and gems he found for the few supplies he needed from town. Vidalus suspected that everyone in the area knew Uncle, and that the old sand dragon didn't have a name. Or had forgotten it long ago.

He softened the meat with a bit of water from the nearby stream, and then placed it on Blind's small muzzle. "Gonna get cleaned up, then we can talk."

Vidalus headed back to the stream, and dove in without pause. A few minutes of splashing in the cold water got the worst of the grime and mud off, and then a good strong shake to dry off.. He then slowly stalked back to the group, a prank in mind. Just when he was about to try and tackle Blind, who seemed oblivious as the he gorged on the dried rations, the black dragon suddenly jerked his head up and to one side. Even though his eyes were closed against the light, he seemed to be staring at something intently. "Followed?"

Blind didn't talk much, living alone for his entire life, so Vidalus thought it was amazing he was as sane as he was. But having lived alone meant he tended to skip the boring parts of conversations. Both Sanyla and he were used to it, and could follow him in a conversation, using the term loosely, though he was much better than she was at it. Though there were times, like now, when it took a minute for them to understand. Sanyla beat Vidalus to what Blind was asking. "Yes, five of the guards when we almost blundered into them. But since doofus over there never tried to hide, I thought we had lost them."

Blind turned his head to Sanyla, and shook his head, before standing and dropping into a wide and low fighting stance. "Followed."

The other two dragons were on their feet immediately, as the five guards from earlier slipped out of the forest. Sanyla shifted closer to Blind, who didn't move. Vidalus, however, groaned as he dropped into his combat stance, low, narrow, and ready to pounce or roll away. "Great, it's the freaking goon squad."

Vidalus managed to not hiss back as the only shadow dragon in town hissed with delight at the name. Twenty guards to protect the town, and today they had gotten all five of the utterly rotten ones. Not that any of them were really good and upstanding examples of the guard, they were assigned to Long Pass, after all. It was a dead end post for the screw ups, the misfits, and the troublemakers that got caught, and no one who found themselves assigned to Long Pass transferred out, only discharged.

It was the dark-scaled Blind the five were focusing on, and his head slowly turned back and forth. "How. Many?"

Sanyla answered from behind him. "All five of the ones from before. Probably heard doofus over there when he was screwing around."

Vidalus opened his mouth to retort, but Blind shook his head, very slightly, his voice barely audible even to the two beside him, interrupting the white. "Two. Behind."

They had been talking quietly, slowly backing away from the guards, but Blind's announcement made them freeze. "Where?"

Blind flicked his tail slightly, and both of his acquaintances swore under their breath as they realized they were surrounded. The two hidden presences were behind them and off to either side, though one was further off than the other. . They could try running, but with Blind being nearly blind during the day, it would be a very chancy run. Just when he was about to ask the feral what he wanted to try, Blind abruptly sat down, and yawned before addressing the guards. "Caught. Usual. Beat. Release?"

Both Sanyla and Vidalus stared at him like he had suddenly declared that he was a child-murdering psychopath. The leader of the guard squad simply chuckled wickedly, and swaggered forward as he shook his head. "I know that I told you the last time I caught you in town…"

The massive red dragon abruptly back-pawed Blind, knocking him off his paws and away from the other two young dragons, clear across the clearing. "That if you spoke to me in that disgusting pidgin-speech of yours again, I would beat you senseless. Of course, that _was_ in town, and we are nowhere near it. Which kinda puts me in a bit of a bind."

Blind slowly shook his head to clear it, two bleeding gashes on his face from the gauntlet the red had on. The four guards in the open made themselves comfortable as the 'casually' surrounded Vidalus and Sanyla, watching their leader as they sat or reclined. The shadow dragon watched the pair of youths intently, focused upon them as though he were hunting and they were the of them moved, knowing they would only make the bad situation worse if they did.

Vidalus didn't listen to the ranting of the red, currently blaming Blind for everything that had gone wrong within or around the town for the last twenty years. Including the Convexity cults that had nearly taken control of the town at the height of the Cult Rebellions. He was too busy trying to figure out where the two others Blind had sensed were lurking. As he concentrated, he was suddenly grabbed and then slammed muzzle first into the ground.

The sound of Vidalus getting his head slammed into the ground got both Blind and the red's attention, the latter of which turned to the noise. Blind didn't move, bleeding from several gashes from the gauntlet, as the red stared at the shadow dragon practically lying on top of the white. "What are you doing?"

The shadow dragon shrugged, keeping one paw on Vidalus' head, while watching Sanyla. "Little shit was channeling something."

The red gave Vidalus a flat stare, before shaking his head. "Well, avoid hurting him too much. After all, the demon here doesn't have claws our size, and since we arrived too late to save these two from their misguided mercy mission, they shouldn't have wounds from us on them."

All three young dragons had been not moving much before, but that declaration made them freeze. Sanyla found her voice first. "I am sorry, but what did you just say? I thought you said Blind here had murdered us."

The red smashed his paw into Blind's side, and simply smirked at the young female. "Well, he was SUPPOSED to try resisting us when we arrived. And we all worked so hard to get our stories to match up on the way over here, too. Though that was before we wound up running into these two, so we DID try driving them back to town. Seems they were just too determined to see you, though. So, here we are, haven't even started the execution, sorry fight, yet, and already we're going to have modify our stories. And two witnesses to the contrary, no matter how unlikeable the 'victim' happens to be, just seems makes dragons doubt their upstanding and honorable guards."

Vidalus, still pinned under the paw of the shadow dragon, sighed loudly. "Whelp, he is both serious and evil. He is monologuing, assuming victory, and posing. Pity he doesn't know how to..."

Vidalus had planned to go on, but got cuffed by the shadow dragon's free paw. The red turned toward the white dragon. "What are you babbling about?"

Blind didn't move from the spot where he had collapsed after being knocked across the clearing, so Vidalus kept talking. "Welllll, there are at least two others out here, and you idiots didn't bring anyone else. So who else would be out here, especially right after an ape raid?"

The shadow sneered down at him, ignoring the restless looks on the other three members of the goon squad. It was red who replied. "No one else would bother coming out here, even without the raid. This is the demon dragon's area, after all, and he only lived because we allowed it. Your lies are meaningless and empty. Now, be silent, and you will breathe a while longer."

"Actually, I believe he was referring to **us**."

Everyone in the clearing turned towards the red dragoness who had suddenly stepped into the clearing, her anger clearly visible as a heat mirage surrounded her like a shimmering cloak.. Her rage was clear on her muzzle as she stared at the goon squad with outrage and contempt. Her pristine fitted chainmail was even more magnificent now then when he had first seen her, and Vidalus was glad to see his personal role model and hero. "Creeps, ladies, and goons, may I present Lady Pyra, commander of the Dragon Temple guards, and overall commander of the guards? Who likely has heard everything and is going to take great pleasure in sundering your carcasses as a warning to the rest of the corrupt excuses for …"

Vidalus experienced the blow rather than actually felt it, hearing something in his crest crack, even as the darkness of unconsciousness swarmed upward, claiming him.

* * *

"Son of a spineless lizard, that HURT."

Vidalus rolled to his feet and carefully grabbed his head, careful to not disturb the leather full helm he wore; it might be the only thing holding his head together. Though after a moment he realized that his head felt fairly normal. He reluctantly removed his paws, expecting a sudden surge of pain, and looked around. His hero was nowhere to be seen, but neither was the goon squad, so she was probably dealing with them. That or chasing them, it was the same thing, really.

He gave himself a good shake, getting some dirt and grime off after collapsing on the slightly muddy ground near the stream bank, before looking around for Blind, Sanyla, and whoever had been with Lady Commander Pyra. Blind had said two, she had implied it. After a moment, he spotted Sanyla, her pale yellow scales and soft blue underbelly standing out against the nearby trees as she glared at him. And the dragon with a raised eye ridge just beyond her made his jaw drop, barely even hearing Sanyla. "Don't swear in front of the Guardian. Idiot."

Vidalus was too busy bowing to the Guardian to respond. His other hero was just as big and powerful as he had imagined, and even more so than he remembered from yesterday. Two large horns on either of his temples, with two smaller horns in front of each of those. Bright green scales, tan belly scales, slightly battered but still gleaming plate armor, and the thick club tail as big as his head. "Sir Terrador, it is an honor to meet you. I saw you yesterday at the village address, but wasn't able to be heard over the crowd. Is it true anyone can enter your trials for a chance to go to the Temple and train?"

The Earth Guardian looked down at the suddenly formal young white, a bemused but distant look in his eyes as if he was remembering something from a long time ago. "Yes, though an albino such as yourself will have a hard time passing the challenges. I can chose two, so there is still a space open. Possibly."

He glanced at a nearby shadow, where Blind was slowly eating the now water soaked rations from before. Sanyla joined the conversation. "Sadly, neither of us speak barbarian, so if you can get the story of last night from Blind that would speed this up considerably. And keep your comments to yourself, he has been speaking one word sentences, and refused a healing gem."

Vidalus had been choosing one from a half dozen smart assed responses, but the gleam in Sanyla's eye convinced him to hold his comment. Instead, he simply shrugged. "I am not an albino. Not sure what my element IS, since I lack a breath attack, but I can use magic. A bit. And while my scales are white or whitish, my eyes aren't red."

Terrador simply raised an eyebrow again. "Is that so? Then I apologize for calling you such. Now, can you please ask him about last night?

Commander Pyra and I arrived to a scene of disorder and panic, three young dragons missing after an ape raid far further south than any others we were aware of in years. And then those three dragons return, with a fourth that chose to flee rather than return to the hero's welcome they had earned. We followed the trail back to a scene of carnage, nearly one and a third dozen apes dead, several dismembered. And today, while tracking the trail of the dragon from last night, Commander Pyra and I observe several known problem-guardsmen harassing, beating, and outright threatening three dragons, none of which had done anything that we could determine would deserve such a response."

The Earth Guardian turned to Blind, expectantly, who continued to eat in his slow, patient manner, ignoring the other three. Vidalus sighed, before heading to his oath-brother, and began asking questions, working through Blind's typical one word responses using his familiarity with his friend's habits.

While the white dragon was interrogating the black dragon, the Earth Guardian turned to the young pale yellow dragoness beside him. "What do you know about those two?"

Sanyla didn't even glance over at the two males as Vidalus missed cuffing Blind and crashed to the ground. "Less about Blind, but Vidalus lives with me and Uncle at our shop and what I do know about the former I learned from the latter. He showed up early spring about… was it five or six and a half years ago? Five and a half, I had just celebrated my tenth hatch day. He was going from shop to shop around the town square, asking to work for room and a meal a day. Most of the shopkeepers laughed him out of the store, a dragon of barely ten years shouldn't be asking for that, and they thought it was a joke. Uncle saw his ribs and thinness, and knew the young white was completely serious.

He started doing odd jobs, but quickly became the runner for the shop, letting us deliver lists to the homes of our customers, making us much more popular in town. I watched the shop with Uncle, but Vidalus was too fond of running his mouth to do that."

Vidalus cut in. "All the better to pleasure you with, oath-sis."

The glare Sanyla leveled at him should have turned him to ash if the ancestors had any sense of justice, but he just grinned at her before turning back to Blind. She would kill him on the way back, but he didn't mind. Sanyla fumed, until Terrador coughed softly, drawing her attention back to him. "And that is what I know of him from around town, as he tends to come up with stories of his past depending on who he is talking to. Most often, he claims to have fled from an orphanage in Warfang, making his way here. Others include escaping an ape ambush, exiled prince, explorer from distant lands marooned, and raised by fairies, wolves, or fireflies, take your pick. I prefer the story 'escaped circus freak.'"

She paused, waiting for Vidalus to retort, but he ignored her, concentrating on figuring out Blind's story. She sighed, and continued. "I learned about Blind when I followed him after a couple months, having noticed that a couple times a week, after we closed he would sneak out with his meal. Despite the name and his eyes being closed, I know he isn't, so why he chose that name I have no idea."

She shivered as Blind turned his head to her, eyes still closed, and flashed his fangs at her in his version of a smile, before turning back to Vidalus. Terrador listened to the story and watched the exchange with barely a sound or movement, before he simply nodded. "So he is the Demon of Long Pass then…interesting."

Vidalus stood up before that thought could go any further. "Alright, got the story. Apparently, more than twenty apes interrupted his hunt, so he decided to kill them. Followed them until they split up, nine staying with the camp, and a dozen heading for the town. He dealt with the nine, one fleeing during the fighting, including the mage with them, oh, right, they had a mage at the camp setting up a circle thing. Seven of the dozen came back, and he killed four of them including the orc warrior, the other three running. He then brought the three dragons back home, and then went out to try and hunt some more before heading home hungry due to the rain. Questions?"

Sanyla glared at him, and he grinned as she spoke. "So you got all of that from him in about three minutes? How? The Guardian and I tried to get him to talk for nearly half an hour before we waited on you."

Vidalus grinned even wider. "I speak barbarian, you speak prude. The overlap is minimal."

Sanyla was on her feet faster than he expected, but before either could move, Terrador spoke. "So he took out ten apes, an ape mage, an orc warrior, and frightened four more off? And did the two of you help with that? I know trained warriors that would have been badly hurt trying that."

Vidalus glanced at Blind, before shaking his head. "He did that himself, sir. Alone."

Terrador actually jerked backwards, surprise on his muzzle. "Alone? That is quite hard to believe. Especially for one without formal training and so young. How? What is your element, or do you have a strong, innate magical talent?"

Blind simply shrugged, and shook his head. "Hunted."

Terrador's shocked and confused expression led Vidalus to explain. "He means he didn't fight them all at once sir. He let them split up and spread out, and hit them in groups of two or three. Usually from the side or behind, like a hunter stalking prey. Ambushing each small group makes that a much more believable story, yes? And he doesn't have or doesn't use his element. I have known him for six years now, and never seen a hint of magic or element from him."

Terrador's expression changed then, though to what Vidalus had no idea. So it was his and Sanyla's turn to be surprised when Terrador spoke again a moment later. "Would you like to recieve training at the Dragon Temple?"


	4. Chapter 4 - Preparations

_**Chapter 4 - Preparations and Departure**_

Blind considered what the elder male dragon had just asked. Vidalus was still gushing over this 'guardian,' so he would actually have to consider it rather than just dismiss it out of hand. Unless this was going to happen. That thought made him frown, and he decided to get more information before deciding. "Temple? Why?"

He grabbed another pawful of the rations, as he waited for a reply. Eventually, Vidalus replied. "The Temple is…"

Words apparently failed him, as he stopped, and grumbled something unpleasant to himself, leaving this 'guardian' to continue for him. "The Temple is a place of training and instruction, where the best and brightest of our kind gather to learn and expand their abilities to their absolute limit. It is the most prestigious institute of its kind, and attendance is the highest honor a young dragon can achieve without including royal recognition. However, because of its recent pattern of admitting almost only wealthy disciples, we guardians have been sending out four members of our order every half year. They are each to search for up to two young dragons to come back and be included in the student population. I am offering one of those slots to you."

The black scaled dragon simply continued chewing his rations, thinking as Terrador finished, going over what parts he had understood. He shifted his sitting position, and tilted his head toward his two oath siblings. "All. Together."

He heard Terrador open his mouth to reply, but Vidalus cut him off. "Ancestors, you aren't actually so stupid as to turn this down, are you?"

Blind slowly turned his head toward Vidalus, and bared his fangs slightly, before he turned back to Terrador. He heard Sanyla cuff Vidalus, as Terrador replied. "I can only choose two. Otherwise there would have been years when I returned with more than a dozen new students. You are getting one of those two spots, and these two can join the others that will compete for the last one. Or you can pass on this likely once in a lifetime chance, and give them both a CHANCE to get both slots. Considering there are at least two dozen of age dragons in the town, they will merely have a slim chance."

The blind dragon held himself still in his sitting position, considering very hard what he had just heard. He eventually sighed, and shook his head. "Pass. Others. Better."

He yelped as something hit the back of his head hard, and snarled at Sanyla. Before he could reply, Vidalus spoke up. "Sir, can we have a moment to speak to our clearly insane oath-brother? And can you pretend to be deaf for the last… half minute or so?"

Blind yipped as Sanyla bit his tail and dragged him off, her own tail slapping his head whenever he tried to speak. She didn't drag him far, but he did have a headache from her tail-slaps when she finally released him. "Ancestors damn you, you… you… Ughhh! It is bad enough I have to deal with Vidalus' stupidity, but I thought you at least had a brain. Did you miss the beating those guards gave you? You need to get out of here before you get caught again, and I doubt that next time anyone will be there to save you."

Blind only half listened, instead focusing on the sound of someone flying closer, but Vidalus saw his head turning and spoke up. "It is Lady Commander Pyra, back from delivering those miscreants to their proper justice. Now pay attention, you idiot. Much as I hate agreeing with Sanyla, she is right. WE will be fine; you, however, are going to get killed if you don't go."

He was listening, and hard, as he was more interested in the conversation the older dragons were having. His oath sibs were just insulting him, so nothing he hadn't heard before. Terrador was the one he picked out first. "...never had a refusal before. And I am not sure he really understands what I offered. If he truly is a feral, at least. He seems to understand us just fine, can talk somewhat normally if haltingly, but seems to prefer using the absolute fewest words."

The one named Pyra snorted. "He isn't stupid, not if he can take on that patrol like he did. And the guards are likely learning where his lair is, so he has to leave, one way or another. Actually I just had a thought. You could just declare him a ward of the... feral re-education plan, I think it was called."

"The what?"

"Lord Spyro's pet project? Remember, about ten years back, we found those four ferals outside Earth Ward, and we tried to turn them into proper dragons? All four ran off and vanished back into the wilds within a year, huge scandal. Well, the thing is, that project was never officially closed, but it lacks a feral to try again with. Well, good news, we found one, and this one seems smart enough to know not to run off."

Blind could practically feel the Earth Guardian's distaste at the suggestion. "So you want to dragon-nap him?"

He lost track of the conversation as Sanyla tried to hit him again, but he managed to dodge this blow. "And you are lost in the clouds again, aren't you? Why are we even trying? Fine, stay here, get killed, lizard brain. I hope the guards catch you and turn you into dragon steaks."

She turned and stomped off, as Vidalus opened his mouth. Blind was done listening to his siblings, however, and reached out, pushing Vidalus' head down into the ground. He stepped over Vidalus, who yelped as the smaller but still heavy dragon walked over him, and approached the Guardian. "Accept."

Both adults shifted, likely turning toward him, though it took a second for Terrador to respond. "Did those two talk you into accepting the my offer?"

"No. Reed...acuetom?"

Despite him stumbling over the new word, there was another pause, and then Pyra made several deep coughs before she spoke. "You mean re-education?"

He nodded, and then waited a moment, before Terrador sighed and spoke. "Fine, I will allow it, though he is going in under YOUR name, Pyra."

Blind stepped back as she whirled toward the male, anger quickly filling the air around them. He waited, wondering what he was missing, before Pyra spoke. "Fine, but first…"

Blind suddenly felt something swirling in the air around him, and then it washed past him, like a sudden breeze. He froze, and it happened again. "What?"

He could feel Pyra's stare on him, before Terrador spoke. "You leave in a couple days, the tests will take that long. Commander Pyra will spend some time teaching you…"

He was interrupted by the female. "Lady Commander Pyra will NOT. I have a new investigation to finish, some thugs to dishonorably discharge, and still have to finish the rest of the investigation that brought us here, on top of dealing with whatever else I find."

He could feel her eyes on him, cold as a predator. He simply turned his head to her, eyes still closed and completely relaxed as he sat. She snorted, before moving away. "I will be back in three days, at dawn. If you are not in this clearing, you are left behind. Bring whatever you have with you, though I will remove anything I don't like."

He snorted, before grabbing another pawful of rations, as Terrador stood up. "Your two friends will come with us. Will you be alright for a couple days on your own?"

He shrugged with his wings and swallowed, before grabbing the sack with the rations in it. He tossed the sack onto his back, to rest between his wings, and headed for the tunnel into the mountain. He had things to gather and pack, sleep to catch up on despite it being sometime before midday, and he needed to say goodbye. He had no idea how long he would be gone, but she needed to know he would come back to see her. That she couldn't hear him wasn't important.

He heard Terrador huff at his departure, but Vidalus spoke up. "He does that sometimes, sir. Gets bored with a conversation and walks off."

Blind entered the tunnel, and was just barely able to make out what Sanyla said as the other four left his clearing. "Honestly, I'm surprised he was that talkative. Most of the time, getting words from him is like trying to get water from a rock."

* * *

He had finished packing, it didn't take long, it was really only a pawful of clearish rocks that glowed with inner light. Too soft to hurt his eyes, but he used them to see when exploring the deeper tunnels. He had the only piece of jewelry he owned around his right forepaw, where it almost always was. Other than the rocks, he had a couple skins he used to keep things off the ground. Everything else he could leave behind, the bone and rock tools, the extra skins and hides, the simple rock bowl.

Leaving felt strange, but he didn't need anything else. If he needed more, he could make it when he got to this 'Temple' place. All that was left was saying goodbye. He took a deep breath, made sure the glowing rock was around his neck, and shoved a large rock out of the way. He padded down the revealed tunnel, following it for a while. Time didn't mean much to him. Not here, visiting her. He took a deep breath, before stepping into the room. He immediately winced as the rocks in the room nearly blinded him. They had grown up around where she lay, four growths that were larger than him.

He walked around the growth nearest to him, and stared down at her, ignoring the pain from the light of the rocks. He came here at least once every few days, but most of the time he didn't have the words to tell her what he wanted. Since he was leaving, likely for a long time, he had to try though. "Leaving. Long time. To... Temple. Not sure. When back. Miss you. Try find… you... things."

He hated this, he couldn't talk as he wanted, but maybe at this 'Temple' he could learn words to speak his thoughts as he had them. He sighed, knowing he was only messing it up, but also knew she didn't care. He leaned down and gently nuzzled the small beak, ignoring the slight scrape as they touch. "Find. Good things. For you. Sleep. Well."

He turned and left, leaving the small dragon in her throne, heading for the surface. He was done, now he just had to wait for that Pyra female to return. As he left the room, though, he paused, and turned back to the small throne. After a moment, he sighed, and shook his head, before continuing upwards, mumbling to himself. "Some. Don't. Good. End."

* * *

Terrador, Guardian of the Earth, Duke of the Dragon lands, and friend and confident of the legendary Spyro, Cynder, their children, as well as King Ignatius and a dozen other nobles, among many other illustrious, important titles, reflected that a mere three days of flying from dawn to dusk shouldn't make him hurt this much. Even when arriving to the aftermath of an ape raid, spending all night calming the locals, surveying the damage, and then the next day trying to hunt down a young feral that didn't want to be found.

He grumbled to himself about spending too much time in meetings, not enough in the training yard, as a dragon of his mere one hundred ninety three years shouldn't feel this old. The last Guardian of Flame had been over three hundred, and had gone out fighting against Malefor without ever showing his age, though his friend had been half bluff about how much age was not slowing him down.

He shook off that line of thought, and tapped on Pyra's door. Though after checking that there was light coming through the crack. "It's me. May I enter?"

He heard her sigh, and grinned to himself. "Of course, sir. Though this long after sundown, you should be resting, especially after the pace we set to…"

He pushed the door open and half glared at the fire dragoness, though he couldn't hide his amusement. "I will not be lectured on what I should or should not by a dragoness almost a third my age. I know my limits well enough, and unlike you..."

She grinned at him, and shifted some paperwork to the side of her desk as she waved off his speech with her other paw. "Yes, yes. I heard that speech often enough when we worked together during the war and afterwards. So the local commander is on his way back to explain why he failed to report years worth of ape attacks and raids, the five goons are out, I am keeping an eye on the ones left, and several old squaddies are on their way to whip this place into shape, at least once that idiot commander gets to Warfang with my report and letter."

Terrador nodded, before lying upon a plush cushion. "I thought you and the former local commander knew each other in training?"

She hissed her displeasure, but kept her tone and face civil, though he could see steam snort from her nostrils as the room started quickly warming. "That was before he got lazy, stupid, complacent, and incompetent. He failed in his duties, so he is going to be punished as my uncle decides. I don't make exceptions for the rules, Terrador. No one is above the laws and regulations. No one."

Terrador gave her a wry smile. "Nice to see you haven't changed."

Pyra just snorted, though the room was starting to cool back off as soon as her temper was back in check. She shook her head, and rubbed at her eyes with a paw, before looking back at him. "So, any whelps here worth taking? Other than our feral, I mean."

"Three, maybe four, though Blind was correct in that his two friends should be tested. Sanyla is going back with us, no question. I want Spyro to take a look at her element, but she can speed herself up and slow others down with just her breath weapon, so definitely a sub-element at least. Not sure who is getting the second spot, either Vidalus, a dragon named Gust, or one named Frost."

Pyra laughed at the names, before shaking her head. "Glad I am not choosing, or else I might choose Vidalus just for not having such an obvious name to element association. Who are you leaning towards?"

"Frost or Vidalus, the former because of his considerable talent with his element, the latter because he takes hits and laughs them off, no matter how many or hard. Not sure why he wears that leather helm of his, but put him in full plate, and he could spearhead any charge you put him in. Once he grows bigger, of course. I definitely see Vidalus in the Guard at some point, and Frost would do well with the mages. I plan to have the two spar against each other for the final spot, though I might include Gust if he shapes up."

She nodded, and glared at the paperwork she had shuffled to one side, before shaking her head. "Well, if that is all, sir, I am for bed. Two days, and then back to the Temple."

Terrador nodded, eyes on the window for a moment, before standing with a sigh and grunt. "I wonder what he is doing."

"Who, the feral? Sleeping probably, like most sane beings, and we should follow his sensible example. Too dark tonight with the clouds to do anything. Tomorrow I plan to ask around and learn what I can about that feral. I expect a lot of rumors and stories, but it will give us an idea on what the town thinks of its neighbor."

* * *

Blind woke with a start, quickly freezing as he listened carefully. He was in his lair, and couldn't hear anything nearby. He let out a soft growl of annoyance, before unwrapping his wings from around him, and flipped his tail back over to hang down his back. He shook his head, clearing the dream from his head, trying to get his heart to slow and his body to relax, but it was no use. The dream, or whatever it was, was getting clearer.

His left forepaw was numb, he could barely breathe, he had a pounding headache, and his entire chest felt like someone had been beating him for several minutes. Since that described what the guard had been doing, he knew it wasn't related to his dream. So he instead focused on the dream, forcing the pain from his mind, focusing on the newest details. He had seen this 'dream' many, many times before, it haunted his sleeping periods, when he wasn't reliving the Failure. Six beings of light, so bright they burned his eyes just trying to look at them, three on the ground, slowly dimming.

Not much new, but now he knew what the largest of the shapes looked like now, instead of being an indistinct blur. Snake-like, but it now had four powerful legs holding it up, and its eyes were black pits that stared at him with barely contained fury. No wings, none of the bright forms seemed to have them, but this one had terrified him like an adult dragon did.

Not finding anything else new from the dream, he shook his head, and looked up, though he was checking the dim ground below him. Nothing had shifted there, so he let go with his hind paws, and flipped forward, landing on all fours. He knew from experience that further sleep was not possible, so he decided to go hunting. Maybe some fresh meat and blood would help clear his head; the exercise certainly would.

* * *

He was sitting in a tree, a couple days later, dozing as he listened to the clearing outside his lair, when he heard someone flying. After a moment, a thud resounded through the clearing, and he heard the dragon looking around. "Blind. Time to go. If you are not out here in two minutes, I am leaving you behind."

This time it was Pyra, so he jumped down, and walked toward her. "Here."

He heard her turn to look at him, and she snorted, though didn't speak for a moment. Finally, she broke the silence. "Alright, if that is all you have. We can make the flight to the temple in four days, taking it easy so you don't get lost. I have rations for both of us so we can skip towns. Though I am a bit curious as to how you are going to follow me."

He shrugged, before scratching his head, right at his ear holes. "Can. Hear. Ready."

Another uncomfortable pause, before she spread her wings. "Fine, though I am not going to make too many concessions for you. Ferals are supposed to be strong, so try to keep up."

He bared his fangs at her, and turned around. He sprinted to the tree he had just jumped from, and quickly scaled it, using it to get in the air faster and higher than the adult. "Slow."

She laughed at his display, and took to the air with a couple powerful wing strokes, before turning towards the sunrise. "Fine, 'impress' me, feral. You get tired and we have to stop early, I am not going to be happy."

* * *

Pyra glanced at the form concealed in the branches of a tree across the clearing from her. Two days done, and they were making good enough time she knew they would reach the temple late tomorrow. Terrador was likely done with the tests now, the replacement guard commander and guards had probably arrived, and he would be heading back to the Temple soon with his selected students. Though his path back would follow civilization to the Temple at a more leisurely pace, rather than take the more direct path she had chosen.

So far, this Blind was impressive for such a small dragon. At least assuming he was the same age as the others. He didn't talk much, a good trait in her opinion, and he was strong enough to keep up with her, though she wasn't trying to lose him. He even managed to do a quick hunt each time they had landed, so they had fresh meat, good and bloody, at the end of the day.

However, she couldn't shake the feeling there was something… off about him. She had done a simple detection spell on him several times, and each time the spell just washed over him like he wasn't there. And it shouldn't do that, it should at least register his presence. His body build was odd, heavily muscled back legs, tail and wings, but his forelegs were almost underdeveloped in comparison, despite being as strong as the other limbs. And that wasn't even touching on the unnatural way he slept, or the fact he slept in short spurts rather than a single long period.

She might believe the latter was due to him being feral and alone, but the hanging upside-down was just... wrong. She couldn't think of a single dragon sub-type that did something like that, and she had been reminded of the stories the townsfolk back in Long Pass had told her about him. Demon spawn, they had called him, blood thirsty, vicious, wholly evil, ate children when he could get them and the town livestock when he couldn't, used foul sorceries and blood magics.

They even had 'proof'; a single case of him taking a child, a young female named Leena, though no one would admit to actually seeing either the abduction or the corpse. She couldn't help but wonder if it was the same Leena as the daughter of one of the teachers that had gone missing about a decade earlier in the same area. At first she had simply assumed it was ignorance and coincidence, but after him not registering to the detection spell, and seeing him hanging like that…

No, she would trust her instincts; there was something very wrong with this Blind, and she would be damned to let anyone, feral or not, get past her just for being young, feral, or for ANY reason. At least once she got him to the Temple, she could easily get the rest of the guards to help keep an eye on him, probably a couple of the Guardians, definitely a few of the teachers. If there was any truth to the stories, they would find out there. She just hoped she wouldn't get her answer in the form of another small, crumpled lifeless drake. But if so…

She took a deep breath, and another look across the fire at the small dragon, this time her expression hard as rock; she would give him the same mercy she gave all her opponents. Absolutely none at all.


	5. Chapter 5 - Temple Arrival

_**Author's Notes:**_

 _Sorry about the multiple updates to a chapter all at once, someone pointed out a couple errors in a PM, and after beating my head against my desk (head-desking) a couple times, I fixed them. Sadly, the first time I forgot to save, so... head-desk._

Chapter 5 - Temple Arrival

"Here we are. The Dragon Temple, and in three days no less. I will admit, you didn't completely embarrass yourself."

Blind didn't respond to the female, simply following her down to the clearing below. At least, he thought it was a clearing, his eyes were being overwhelmed by the brightness of the day, so he had to focus just to follow his guide. At least the sky orb had nearly set, so it was getting easier for him to see by the second since the sky orb was no longer brightening everything up to a painful degree.

He landed, and then followed Pyra to the structure in front of them. He ignored the pain in his wings, a steady pulse from the strain of keeping up with the larger dragoness in flight for three days, though he would die before he admitted to such a weakness. Weakness killed, and he didn't expect that to change here. She paused at the entrance to the building, and talked quietly to one of the dragons there, before turning away from the building. "The person you get to meet is this way. You will be spending a lot of time with him and a few others, so behave."

Blind didn't reply immediately, simply following her as she took a small, barely noticeable path around the Temple. The path stayed right up against the wall, and after following it for a few minutes, they entered a cave dug right into the base of the structure. As they entered, he finally asked his question. "What. Do. Here?"

Pyra followed the brighter sticks on the wall, heading toward something. "They do high end magic training here. Stuff too dangerous to be learned in a normal classroom where someone might just walk in, but that also still needs the protections we put up around the Temple. This area was added a few decades back, after a student nearly killed himself and a dozen others in a mishap."

He understood only some of what she was talking about, but enough to know that wasn't what he had been asking. "No. Me. Do what. Here?"

She paused, annoyed at being interrupted, before realizing what he was asking. "Oh, what will you do here at the Temple?"

She paused, and he waited, but she seemed to be actually thinking. "Well, the first thing you will be learning is to talk. That mess you think is talking is difficult to follow, and at some point we might need to understand you in a hurry. After that, you will likely get tested to see what your element is, you magic power and affinity, what kind of fighting style you use and how to improve it, and possibly even classes if you do well enough. The idea of the reeducation program is to make you a productive and _mostly_ normal member of society.

And here we are. Be nice. Or whatever you think is nice, the dragon who will decide if you stay or not is just inside."

As she finished speaking, she knocked on the door, before pushing it open, and Blind's world was suddenly filled with brightness.

* * *

The three dragons in the room were arrayed in a triangular formation, the largest of the three watching the other two as they worked through their exercises. While his gaze and posture were impassive, the massive purple and golden dragon couldn't help but feel a swell of pride for his twin daughters. A year younger than he had been when he had finished off the Dark Master, and their skill with the elements challenged his own when he had been almost half again their age. Admittedly, he hadn't gotten the same education from practically the egg that they had; for that matter he hadn't even realized he was a dragon until he had been attacked by apes and defended himself and Sparx with his fire breath.

The thought of his now deceased dragonfly brother darkened his mood slightly, but Sparx had passed away peacefully from old age, leaving behind several children who had decided the dragonfly family's purpose was to 'protect, guide and assist their bigger, stronger, more dangerous and yet less sensible' purple brethren. Realizing his mind was wandering, he dragged it back to watch his daughters work.

Despite both girls coming from the same egg, it was easy to tell them apart. Vaeria had a long, lean build that closely resembled her mother Cynder as well as possessing Cynder's combat magic aptitude, but she had her father's horns and coloration. Her golden wings and purple scales made her look like a smaller version of her father. Vorela, however, had his build and eyes, while inheriting her mother's coloration; Jet black scales and magenta wings on a powerful body that oozed danger even at rest.

Right now, both were working hard, sweat streaming down their flanks and necks as they strained against the task before them. Both were trying to channel sub-elements that were as far from their natural affinity as he could think of. Vaeria working with the sand sub-element, and Vorela trying to channel plasma. They had started working before lunch, and it should be nearly dinner, which was only making it harder for them, but it was the last exercise before they stopped for the day.

Vaeria was already manipulating the element she had channelled, swirling it about her as she tried to merge the opposing sub-element with her natural aura, and slowly improving. Vorela, however, had only managed to summon a large… clump was the word Spyro was going to use, of plasma, but otherwise wasn't getting it to do anything but seethe and writhe as it tried to escape her control. He waited a few more minutes, but he could easily see that both of them were starting to lose control of the elements. "Alright, go ahead and discharge the magic into the sinks. Let us not set the room on fire today girls."

Vorela turned to glare at her father, and yelped as she completely lost control and her concentration shattered. Spyro reached out, and grabbed the magically created element, before he expertly spun it into one of the magical sinks scattered throughout the room. A quick glance showed that Vaeria had managed to start draining the magic supporting her element already, but was moving far slower than she normally would. Spyro frowned as he watched his daughter struggle with the fairly simple task, and quietly admitted to himself that he had pushed them too hard today. But at least now he had a definite answer to the question of how much Power both of them could channel without...

His thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking, and then opening the door. "Lord Spyro, I have…"

The speaker was cut off by someone snarling in pain and falling over out in the corridor, which caused all three of the dragons in the room to turn to the whomever was out in the hallway. Vaeria yelped as her element suddenly dumped onto the floor, but most of the errant power had already been dismissed, and the rest quickly dispersed as her magic vanished. Spyro sighed as he realized who was talking. "Commander Pyra, I thought you were out looking into that report of ape attacks with Terrador? In … Long Pass, wasn't it?"

Lady Commander Pyra turned back toward him, and stepped into the room. "Yes sir, and already dealt with. Terrador was checking the town for possible scholarship students, but we also found someone that you should meet."

She paused, and then reached out and grabbed whoever was in the corridor, dragging them into the room despite their thrashing and a cry of 'touch me no.' Spyro gave Pyra a bland look, before jerking as the dragon in her grasp screamed in pain. At least he thought it was a thrashing dragon, its movements were erratic in her grasp, and it kept trying to hide behind Pyra, whimpering about 'brightness.'

Spyro looked over the dragon as Pyra dragged it back out in front of her, revealing that it was actually a dragon, though an unusually built one. It, no, he, quickly flipped his wings up into the Iron Wing defensive position, denying Spyro a better look, but it was enough to make him give Pyra an amused look. "Well, he doesn't seem interested in meeting me. Why did you bring him all the from Long Pass, where I assume you found him, and why would I be interested in meeting him?"

Lady Commander Pyra, well known for her no-nonsense attitude, devotion to duty, and supposedly so humorless that her guards joked about her being an earth dragon with a heart of solid stone, if she wasn't so hot blooded, smirked at her friend. "He's a feral that goes by the name of Blind. And he volunteered for your feral reeducation program."

Lord Spyro, hero of the Dark Master War, the Convexity rebellions, and all around beloved hero of the races that inhabited the Dragon Lands, simply stared at Pyra for a moment, before groaning. "Well, that is not good. That program was shut down by your uncle's royal order about six or seven years ago."

As unfortunate as the situation was, Spyro couldn't help but take amusement at the dumbfounded expression on his friend's face. "Come on, let's find some place to set up your applicant, and see about how to deal with this mess. We were done here anyway."

* * *

Spyro and Pyra led the way out of the underground vaults and into the Dragon Temple proper, the new dragon on the other side of Pyra though lagging a bit behind, and Vaeria and Vorela coming up behind the group at a slight distance. Both of them were watching the new dragon at their father's request. He wanted to know more about the dragon, and why he acted like he did around the three of them, and his daughters had eagerly agreed.

Pyra had insisted she had not seen such a reaction before, and while she had asked him, his response of it being 'too bright' was not answer enough to determine the problem. Spyro had no doubt that was the best the feral could describe the problem as though. He didn't seem… mentally stunted like the other four had been, but more… suffering from an unusual thinking process that also affected his ability to talk. Or possibly he thought normally, and just lacked the right words.

Their positioning at least let him speak with the guard commander openly, even if it was softly. "You realize the only reason this will work at all is because it is less than halfway into a break, and we can maybe play the rules to do it. Ancestors know, the others do it enough that it is nice to finally turn the tables on them."

Pyra had just given him an amused look, before shrugging. "Even if it doesn't work, he will not be in an area where the town is actively hunting him to kill him. Despite my personal thoughts that he needs to be watched because of how strange he is, I only found one even slightly possibly true rumor about him, and that was ten years ago or so."

Spyro watched the young dragon behind them jerk out of the corner of his eye. He realized that that number meant something to the feral, and that the feral had exceptional hearing to be able to hear their murmured conversation from that far behind them. He jerked his head back slightly, and then mouthed 'talk later.' Pyra frowned, and then shrugged and nodded, before continuing the walk in silence.

They were almost to the faculty residence section of the Temple when Spryo heard Blind snarl. Glancing back, he saw the feral back at the intersection they had just passed. His wings were spread and head low as he hissed at something down one of the side corridors. Pyra took a couple steps back, and glanced down the corridor, but it was completely empty. Even as both adult dragons turned toward him, though, he snarled even louder, and then he took a swipe at empty air with one paw.

A soft yelp of surprise explained what he was reacting to, but it shocked Spyro that he had noticed the individual in question. He didn't need to see the perpetrator to know who it was, though. "Trance! What did we tell you about harassing others with your ability?"

A loud sigh echoed down the corridor, and then a young draken slowly faded into view. Soft blue scales and brilliant silver wings flashed in the soft light of the passage, as the young and curvy dragoness glared at the feral with emerald eyes, though she couldn't hide her interest in him. Being as he was the first one to ever catch her while she was using her natural ability who wasn't also a purple dragon, Spyro wasn't surprised the illusion dragoness was taking an interest. "I was just going to tease him a bit. Not like there is anything else to do."

Pyra gave the young noble what was probably her fourth best glare, before jerking her head to the side passage. "I am meeting with Cyril later. Unless you want me to mention this stunt to him, you would do well to leave, now."

Trance met her glare with an impassive stare, before yawning. "Fine, bet he is boring too."

They watched the young noble leave, only to nearly run into one of the few albino students as she approached the corner. The two students gave each other glares of pure hatred, but the albino had a couple of her friends with her, so Trance didn't bother saying anything. Pyra stared at the approaching students, before turning to Spyro. "I thought it was the break between schooling semesters. How many students stayed? Or have already returned?"

"About seventy. And it is about dinner time, so most are likely to run into us as we are near the main cafeteria. Shall we keep moving?"

They quickly resumed their progress; Vorela and Vaeria made excuses to the group of their fellow students and kept moving. They made a couple of detours to avoid the slowly thickening crowds, but arrived not long after dinner began. Spyro turned to the feral, and considered what to do as he studied the newest problem. At least now the feral had stopped trying to hide behind his wings, but he still had his head bowed and eyes shut hard. "This is your room for the night. Tomorrow we will know what we can do, so please stay inside tonight. I will have some food and water brought by later. Is there anything else you require?"

The feral entered the room, and then looked around, before shaking his head. He pulled the chest pouch off, and set it down in the corner, before turning back to Spyro and Pyra, though he flinched as he faced Spyro. "No."

Spyro's mouth twitched in amusement, before the feral shut the door. He turned to his daughters, and nodded down the hallway. Once they were around the corner, he glanced at the twins. "Alright, what did you two notice about him?"

Vorela answered first. "You mean other than the abnormal physique, the plates instead of proper scales, the fact that he flinches whenever he turns toward any of us but Pyra, or that he spoke all of ten words since meeting the legendary Spyro and his supremely attractive daughters? I doubt the last was from being shy."

Vaeria gave her twin a glare, before sighing and answering as they moved away. "He detected Trance while she was using her cloak. As the only other person to do that, I don't think he did the same thing I did. I noticed her disturbing the surrounding environment, but I am not sure how he did it. I also don't think he sees the same way we do. I know his name is Blind, but he was definitely reacting to things around him without using sound or scent."

She paused, before sneezing and then shaking her head. "He also has a massive scar on his stomach. I couldn't see where it ended, but it starts on his right hip, and goes up along his stomach. It is about as wide as my paw, which is quite remarkable. His survival, I mean. It does explain how he moves though, body low to the ground, but not touching. Just really hard to get up under him. He also walks with a slight limp, likely from a fresh..."

Pyra was looking at the twins for more information, but Spyro just grinned, letting Vaeria expound upon and extrapolate from what she had noted about the feral. He kept half an ear on it, but most of it was conjecture. His mind was on how to help his friend get out of the mess she had gotten into. If they actually helped the feral become a properly civilized dragon, all the better.

Blind relaxed in the emptiness of the room as the door shut. The 'really big and bright' dragon had left, along with the two smaller 'less bright but still really bright' ones. He knew one of them was named Spyro but not which one. But that was also the name of someone Vidalus had constantly talked about, just like Pyra and Terrador and half a dozen other dragons that were important for some reason or another, so perhaps he should make an effort to not anger the larger dragon.

He jumped against the wall, and then pushed off to grab the sharp edged branches near the top of the room, flipped his tail over his belly, and wrapped his wings about himself. For now, he didn't see himself doing anything but resting, so resting is what he would do, and figure out what was next once he was in. Learn to talk better, of course, and maybe see if they could do anything else. If nothing else, he would watch, he would learn, and he would consume what he could. Blind felt his mouth twitch at that thought, before yawning and wrapping his wings tighter, and waited for exhaustion to claim him.

 _ **Codex Entry:**_

Going to start adding notes on various things that otherwise would need their own sections in the story, but would detract from having otherwise knowledgeable characters not knowing about it. Kind of like Mass Effect codex entries, though these are a bit more obviously biased. Taken from various sources written in universe, so any errors, bias, or outright racism is from the source material, not the author.

 _ **Magic, Elements and Abilities**_

 _Magic, also known as Power, is the most fundamental force of reality, creation, and existence._

 _As all dragons are taught from hatching, and again at school, Magic is Life. Just the act of being alive, or possibly just in existence, produces magic, and all creature exude magic, though in amounts too small for all but the most experienced and trained mages to notice. What appearance magic takes depends on the mage in question, but all agree that even stones, bones, and dirt can appear to produce magic if left under the sun for any length of time._

 _But while any race can learn to control and harness magic, only the race of dragons is capable of nearly every individual knowing how to control it to at least some instinctive degree. The exceptions are the pitiful and pathetic albino dragons, born lacking in both element and Magic, though some are more adept at overcoming this limitation though brute force and ferocity, though they still fall far behind even the most limited of dragons, and many of the less fortunate races._

 _The most common example of a dragon's magic is its element, which is what a dragon can expel through its mouth at even a young age. There are eight 'basic' elements, twenty eight sub-elements, and many sub-sub elements, or super elements. While those of an element are not necessarily limited to just that element, their starting element is the one that they can delve more deeply into, and the easiest. However, dual element dragons are a myth, and none have been found in existence._

 _In the case of most dragons, their elemental abilities follow a logical progression, from beginner to advanced to expert to master to grandmaster. However, a rare few are born with an instinctive understanding of a single, higher level ability, often times with an aptitude for it far greater than what their seniors can achieve. These abilities are always related to their element though what the ability is varies from dragon to dragon. Despite various attempts, there is no way to guarantee that a dragon will be born with an ability, let alone which ability the child will have._

 _Abilities are essentially random, and there has never been a dragon with more than one, EXCEPT for the rare purple dragon. Purples are the only known dragons to have two abilities, and all purples have the same two abilities. The first is aptitude, but NOT affinity, with all elements, primary, sub, and super elements. The second is that they can freely change fate, both their own and others, though none except the most arrogant have ever claimed to be able to control what fate they changed the dragon in question to. A side effect of this ability to alter fate is that they often fail entirely to appear in visions, except for the most catastrophic and dire ones. And even in those, their appearance is subject to the whims and assumptions of the viewers._


End file.
